It's been a whole year of daily proverbs from Paul's calendar. Many of them led to interesting interpretation discussions and some were even good (and strangely timely) advice.
Paul's been typing them into a file once they've been pulled off the calendar. Today he started playing with the data.
Dogs seem to appear quite often. How often?* Do a quick find and replace and you get a count.
Now, was it because I happened to be peeling a potato when Paul was doing just that and inspiration struck? All of a sudden I was hearing him read out:
Every potato has his day.
You can't teach an old potato new tricks.
I laughed, but um... they're still strangely meaningful.
Below are the proverbs and their respective dates. Do you have a favourite?
* There are 10 instances.
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01/01/2011: A cherry year, a merry year; a plum year, a dumb year.
02/01/2011: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
03/01/2011: Who won't be ruled by the rudder must be ruled by the rock.
04/01/2011: You never miss the water till the well runs dry.
05/01/2011: Speech is silver, but silence is golden.
06/01/2011: A watched pot never boils over [sic].
07/01/2011: Time and tide will wait for no man.
08/01/2011: All things come to those who wait.
09/01/2011: Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies.
10/01/2011: A bleating sheep loses a bite.
11/01/2011: In vain the net is spread in the sight of the bird.
12/01/2011: Little leaks sink the ship.
13/01/2011: What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over.
14/01/2011: Charity begins at home.
15/01/2011: Why keep a dog and bark yourself?
16/01/2011: The pen is mightier than the sword.
17/01/2011: The leopard does not change his spots.
18/01/2011: The sun loses nothing by shining into a puddle.
19/01/2011: Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.
20/01/2011: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
21/01/2011: He that cannot obey cannot command.
22/01/2011: Second thoughts are best.
23/01/2011: No man can serve two masters.
24/01/2011: When house and land are gone and spent, then learning is most excellent.
25/01/2011: We must eat a peck of dirt before we die.
26/01/2011: It is never too late to mend.
27/01/2011: Self-preservation is the first law of nature.
28/01/2011: Speak not of my debts unless you mean to pay them.
29/01/2011: He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount.
30/01/2011: Virtue is its own reward.
31/01/2011: Thrift is a great revenue.
01/02/2011: If in February there be no rain, 'tis neither good for hay nor grain.
02/02/2011: Least said, soonest mended.
03/02/2011: Don't cross the bridge till you come to it.
04/02/2011: Out of debt, out of danger.
05/02/2011: The rotten apple injures its neighbour.
06/02/2011: After dinner rest a while, after supper walk a mile.
07/02/2011: What can you expect from a pig but a grunt.
08/02/2011: Life isn't all beer and skittles.
09/02/2011: What's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh.
10/02/2011: None but the brave deserve the fair.
11/02/2011: Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs.
12/02/2011: No one should be judge in his own cause.
13/02/2011: Patience is a virtue.
14/02/2011: A faint heart never won a fair lady.
15/02/2011: Happy's the wooing that's not long a-doing.
16/02/2011: The unexpected always happens.
17/02/2011: Procrastination is the thief of time.
18/02/2011: It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.
19/02/2011: A cat in gloves catches no mice.
20/02/2011: The best doctors are Dr Diet, Dr Quiet, and Dr Merryman.
21/02/2011: Enough is good as a feast.
22/02/2011: What you've never had you never miss.
23/02/2011: Variety is the spice of life.
24/02/2011: If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well.
25/02/2011: Do not meet troubles half-way.
26/02/2011: After a storm comes a calm.
27/02/2011: Promises, like pie-crust, are made to be broken.
28/02/2011: The husband is always the last to know.
01/03/2011: March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.
02/03/2011: Little pitchers have large ears.
03/03/2011: A mouse may help a lion.
04/03/2011: Straws tell which way the wind blows.
05/03/2011: Home is where the hearth [sic] is.
06/03/2011: What can't be cured must be endured.
07/03/2011: Honey catches more flies than vinegar.
08/03/2011: The buyer has need of a hundred eyes, the seller of but one.
09/03/2011: A bully is always a coward.
10/03/2011: The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
11/03/2011: An idle brain is the devil's workshop.
12/03/2011: It is better to be born lucky than rich.
13/03/2011: Little strokes fell great oaks.
14/03/2011: In the country of the blind the one eyed man is king.
15/03/2011: A rising tide lifts all boats.
16/03/2011: A fool at forty is a fool indeed.
17/03/2011: Fine words butter no parsnips.
18/03/2011: Keep no more cats than will catch mice.
19/03/2011: Two wrongs don't make a right.
20/03/2011: Haste makes waste.
21/03/2011: It is not spring until you can plant your foot upon twelve daisies.
22/03/2011: Never send a boy to do a man's job.
23/03/2011: He who hesitates is lost.
24/03/2011: Any publicity is good publicity.
25/03/2011: Any port in a storm.
26/03/2011: Constant dropping wears away stone.
27/03/2011: Go abroad and you'll hear news of home.
28/03/2011: Better safe than sorry.
29/03/2011: Penny wise and pound foolish.
30/03/2011: When one door shuts, another opens.
31/03/2011: Please your eye and plague your heart.
01/04/2011: Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
02/04/2011: Punctuality is the soul of business.
03/04/2011: One story is good till another is told.
04/04/2011: Hurry no man's cattle.
05/04/2011: All's fair in love and war.
06/04/2011: Every dog has his day.
07/04/2011: It's a sin to steal a pin.
08/04/2011: Cheats never prosper.
09/04/2011: He who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day.
10/04/2011: It is best to be off with the old love before you are on with the new.
11/04/2011: The nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat.
12/04/2011: While there's life there's hope.
13/04/2011: Handsome is as handsome does.
14/04/2011: A bird never flew on one wing.
15/04/2011: Blessings brighten as they take their flight.
16/04/2011: You cannot shift an old tree without it dying.
17/04/2011: Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
18/04/2011: Curses, like chickens, come home to roost.
19/04/2011: A hungry man is an angry man.
20/04/2011: The best of men are but men at best.
21/04/2011: The early bird catches the worm.
22/04/2011: You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
23/04/2011: Out of sight, out of mind.
24/04/2011: Curiosity killed the cat.
25/04/2011: Adventures are to the adventurous.
26/04/2011: The mill cannot grind with the water that is past.
27/04/2011: There goes more to marriage than four bare legs in a bed.
28/04/2011: Dog does not eat dog.
29/04/2011: Manners maketh man.
30/04/2011: Judge not, that ye be not judged.
01/05/2011: Fair and softly goes far in a day.
02/05/2011: They that dance must pay the fiddler.
03/05/2011: Long foretold, long last; soon notice, short last.
04/05/2011: Be just before you're generous.
05/05/2011: The cowl does not make the monk.
06/05/2011: Ask no questions and hear no lies.
07/05/2011: Give credit where credit is due.
08/05/2011: A nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse.
09/05/2011: Beauty is only skin deep.
10/05/2011: Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
11/05/2011: A penny saved is [sic] penny earned.
12/05/2011: There is nothing lost by civility.
13/05/2011: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
14/05/2011: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
15/05/2011: Eat to live, not live to eat.
16/05/2011: Poverty is no disgrace, but it's a great inconvenience.
17/05/2011: Cut your coat according to your cloth.
18/05/2011: Never too old to learn.
19/05/2011: You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
20/05/2011: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
21/05/2011: Never look a gift horse in the mouth.
22/05/2011: Great oaks from little acorns grow.
23/05/2011: Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.
24/05/2011: While two dogs are fighting for a bone, a third runs away with it.
25/05/2011: A trouble shared is a trouble halved.
26/05/2011: Time is a great healer.
27/05/2011: A still tongue makes a wise head.
28/05/2011: Set a thief to catch a thief.
29/05/2011: Good fences make good neighbours.
30/05/2011: Empty sacks will never stand upright.
31/05/2011: Whatever man has done, man may do.
01/06/2011: A dripping June sets all in tune.
02/06/2011: There is no royal road to learning.
03/06/2011: You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
04/06/2011: Too many cooks spoil the broth.
05/06/2011: The early man never borrows from the late man.
06/06/2011: Never marry for money, but marry where money is.
07/06/2011: Misfortunes never come singly.
08/06/2011: Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan.
09/06/2011: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
10/06/2011: The bread never falls but on its buttered side.
11/06/2011: The squeaking wheel gets the grease.
12/06/2011: One wedding brings another.
13/06/2011: One volunteer is worth two pressed men.
14/06/2011: Corporations have neither bodies to be punished nor souls to be damned.
15/06/2011: Half the truth is often a whole lie.
16/06/2011: A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a good couple.
17/06/2011: Cowards may die many times before their death.
18/06/2011: Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
19/06/2011: You can have too much of a good thing.
20/06/2011: Two of a trade never agree.
21/06/2011: One swallow does not make a summer.
22/06/2011: If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive.
23/06/2011: Little things please little minds.
24/06/2011: We must learn to walk before we can run.
25/06/2011: Civility costs nothing.
26/06/2011: If you run after two hares you will catch neither.
27/06/2011: It is a poor heart that never rejoices.
28/06/2011: Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
29/06/2011: It's too late to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted.
30/06/2011: Full cup, steady hand.
01/07/2011: Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper.
02/07/2011: A bad excuse is better than none.
03/07/2011: It is the first step that is difficult.
04/07/2011: Where there's a will, there's a way.
05/07/2011: A liar ought to have a good memory.
06/07/2011: It is good to make a bridge of gold to a flying enemy.
07/07/2011: Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves.
08/07/2011: It takes two to make a bargain.
09/07/2011: It never rains but it pours.
10/07/2011: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
11/07/2011: It takes three generations to make a gentleman.
12/07/2011: Do not throw pearls to swine.
13/07/2011: Don't change horses in mid stream.
14/07/2011: What is given to a neighbour is not lost.
15/07/2011: There is an exception to every rule.
16/07/2011: It is not work that kills, but worry.
17/07/2011: A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
18/07/2011: You can take a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink.
19/07/2011: A slice off a cut loaf isn't missed.
20/07/2011: Punctuality is the politeness of princes.
21/07/2011: Don't throw out your dirty water until you get in fresh.
22/07/2011: The sooner begun, the sooner done.
23/07/2011: Lend your money and lose your friend.
24/07/2011: It takes two to make a quarrel.
25/07/2011: Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
26/07/2011: A live dog is better than a dead lion.
27/07/2011: A king's chaff is worth more than other men's corn.
28/07/2011: Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.
29/07/2011: The last drop makes the cup run over.
30/07/2011: When the cat's away, the mice will play.
31/07/2011: A civil question deserves a civil answer.
01/08/2011: If you don't make mistakes you don't make anything.
02/08/2011: A bad workman blames his tools.
03/08/2011: A fool and his money are soon parted.
04/08/2011: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
05/08/2011: He that goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing.
06/08/2011: Life begins at forty.
07/08/2011: If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen.
08/08/2011: Young men may die, but old men must die.
09/08/2011: Bad money drives out good.
10/08/2011: It is a wise child that knows its own father.
11/08/2011: There's none so blind as those who will not see.
12/08/2011: You cannot lose what you never had.
13/08/2011: Beggars can't be choosers.
14/08/2011: The longest way round is the shortest way home.
15/08/2011: What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts.
16/08/2011: Long and lazy, little and loud; fat and fulsome, pretty and proud.
17/08/2011: Learning is better than house and land.
18/08/2011: He that drinks beer, thinks beer.
19/08/2011: One law for the rich and another for the poor.
20/08/2011: Misery loves company.
21/08/2011: The best things in life are free.
22/08/2011: Love laughs at locksmiths.
23/08/2011: One man's loss is another man's gain.
24/08/2011: Rome was not built in a day.
25/08/2011: Make hay while the sun shines.
26/08/2011: A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
27/08/2011: Children are certain cares, but uncertain comforts.
28/08/2011: A reed before the wind lives on, while mighty oaks do fall.
29/08/2011: If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers' hands.
30/08/2011: The devil can quote Scripture for his own ends.
31/08/2011: A fault confessed is half redressed.
01/09/2011: September blow soft till the fruit's in the loft.
02/09/2011: Ask a silly question and you get a silly answer.
03/09/2011: Common fame is seldom to blame.
04/09/2011: A rolling stone gathers no moss.
05/09/2011: If you can't be good, be careful.
06/09/2011: You never know what you can do till you try.
07/09/2011: What goes up must come down.
08/09/2011: Children and fools tell the truth.
09/09/2011: If every man would sweep his own door-step the city would soon be clean.
10/09/2011: Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.
11/09/2011: The better the day, the better the deed.
12/09/2011: The apple never falls far from the tree.
13/09/2011: The course of true love never did run smoothly.
14/09/2011: Necessity is the mother of invention.
15/09/2011: A creaking door hangs the longest.
16/09/2011: Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
17/09/2011: Love and a cough cannot be hid.
18/09/2011: Coming events cast their shadow before.
19/09/2011: Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.
20/09/2011: Of two evils choose the less.
21/09/2011: Man cannot live by bread alone.
22/09/2011: Lucky at cards, unlucky in love.
23/09/2011: He who can does, he who cannot, teaches.
24/09/2011: The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
25/09/2011: If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas.
26/09/2011: The devil finds work for idle hands to do.
27/09/2011: Old habits die hard.
28/09/2011: You can't tell a book by its cover.
29/09/2011: When the wind is in the east, `tis neither good for man nor beast.
30/09/2011: Marry in haste and repent at leisure.
01/10/2011: One cannot love and be wise.
02/10/2011: The best things come in small packages.
03/10/2011: Red sky at night, shephard's delight; red sky in the morning, shephard's warning.
04/10/2011: Don't cry before you're hurt.
05/10/2011: Let sleeping dogs lie.
06/10/2011: Everyone speaks well of the bridge which carries him over.
07/10/2011: Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
08/10/2011: One man's meat is another man's poison.
09/10/2011: The greater the sinner, the greater the saint.
10/10/2011: Nothing succeeds like success.
11/10/2011: You win a few, you lose a few.
12/10/2011: A stream cannot rise above its source.
13/10/2011: The eyes are the window of the soul.
14/10/2011: Shrouds have no pockets.
15/10/2011: Why should the devil have all the best tunes?
16/10/2011: Keep your shop and your shop will keep you.
17/10/2011: Actions speak louder than words.
18/10/2011: Love begets love.
19/10/2011: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
20/10/2011: Much would have more.
21/10/2011: Better be envied than pitied.
22/10/2011: A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for his client.
23/10/2011: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
24/10/2011: Young folks think old folks to be fools, but old folks know young folks to be fools.
25/10/2011: Empty vessels make the most sound.
26/10/2011: Many a true word is spoken in jest.
27/10/2011: Nothing should be done in haste but gripping a flea.
28/10/2011: Fire is a good servant but a bad master.
29/10/2011: Once bitten, twice shy.
30/10/2011: Never do evil that good may come of it.
31/10/2011: He that has an ill name is half hanged.
01/11/2011: Wilful waste makes woeful want.
02/11/2011: Old sins cast long shadows.
03/11/2011: Cold hands, warm hearts [sic].
04/11/2011: Prevention is better than cure.
05/11/2011: Many go out for wool and come home shorn.
06/11/2011: There are no birds in last year's nest.
07/11/2011: When poverty comes in at the door, love flies out of the window.
08/11/2011: An old poacher makes the best gamekeeper.
09/11/2011: Today you; tomorrow me.
10/11/2011: You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.
11/11/2011: The darkest hour is just before dawn.
12/11/2011: There's many a good tune played on an old fiddle.
13/11/2011: Little thieves are hanged, but great ones escape.
14/11/2011: Every man is the architect of his own fortune.
15/11/2011: If you can't ride two horses at once, you shouldn't be in the circus.
16/11/2011: The eye of a master does more work than both his hands.
17/11/2011: More people know Tom Fool than Tom Fool knows.
18/11/2011: One good turn deserves another.
19/11/2011: The more you stir it the worse it stinks.
20/11/2011: Why buy a cow when milk is so cheap?
21/11/2011: Birds of a feather flock together.
22/11/2011: Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
23/11/2011: Pride goes before a fall.
24/11/2011: Diligence is the mother of good luck.
25/11/2011: Fools ask questions that wise men cannot answer.
26/11/2011: Discretion is the better part of valour. --- Shakespeare
27/11/2011: Many hands make light work.
28/11/2011: Light come, light go.
29/11/2011: The tongue always returns to the sore tooth.
30/11/2011: One half of the world does not know how the other half lives.
01/12/2011: Do right and fear no man.
02/12/2011: There is a time and place for everything.
03/12/2011: Never let the sun go down on your anger.
04/12/2011: Practise what you preach.
05/12/2011: Dirty water will quench fire.
06/12/2011: Dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.
07/12/2011: A man is known by the company he keeps.
08/12/2011: Opportunity never knocks twice at any man's door.
09/12/2011: One does not wash one's dirty linen in public.
10/12/2011: Nothing so bad but it might have been worse.
11/12/2011: Out of fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
12/12/2011: There is a remedy for everything except death.
13/12/2011: It is easy to be wise after the event.
14/12/2011: What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
15/12/2011: One hour's sleep before midnight is worth two after.
16/12/2011: Think first and speak afterwards.
17/12/2011: Wonders will never cease.
18/12/2011: The sea refuses no river.
19/12/2011: Moderation in all things.
20/12/2011: Attack is the best form of defense.
21/12/2011: If it were not for hope, the heart would break.
22/12/2011: Strike while the iron is hot.
23/12/2011: The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love.
24/12/2011: The devil makes his Christmas pies of lawyers' tongues and clerks' fingers.
25/12/2011: One seed for the mouse, one for the cow, one to rot, one to grow.
26/12/2011: Confession is good for the soul.
27/12/2011: Every cloud has a silver lining.
28/12/2011: Experience is the father of wisdom.
29/12/2011: The end crowns the work.
30/12/2011: Little birds that can sing and won't sing must be made to sing.
31/12/2011: The difficult is done at once, the impossible takes a little longer.
The orange cranberry muffins didn't even end up having that much of a orange taste... Or cranberry for that matter. Oh, well. 
We end up making a vegetarian "Cottage Pie" with whatever vegetables were about. This was later renamed/corrected to "Crop Farmer Pie". Here's the logic: Shepherd's Pie is made from lamb, Cottage Pie is made from beef... therefore one with only vegetables must be...
